Luisa Merino
A soldier in the US Army during the Resource Wars, Luisa Merino survived the conflict and the Great War. In its aftermath, she became a part of the Appalachian Brotherhood of Steel, helping to protect the people of the region against the horrors unleashed by the conflict. History Luisa was born in Camden in Appalachia in 2254. Growing up in a poor family, she had very little to her name and had to work hard to get whatever she wanted. This gave her a determined drive and a willingness to push herself and demand the best of herself in order to achieve her goals, a trait that would eventually serve her well. While she graduated high school near the top of her class, she also knew that in an economically depressed region where the big industries were doing their best to eliminate human workers, her prospects were poor. It was this situation that drove her to join the army. The idea of fighting for her country appealed to Luisa on many levels; not only would it allow her to help others, but she felt that she would be able to push herself to become the best soldier she could be. On top of that, the offer of study on a GI Bill once her term of service was up presented a better alternative than any other options available to her. Bidding a tearful farewell to her family, she shipped off to basic training, completely unaware of where this decision would take her. In the army, Luisa proved to have the same drive and determination as she’d had in her schooling, pushing herself to be the best she could be. She outperformed her fellow cadets in almost every field, which in turn saw her selected for the advanced Power Armour training course. She sized the opportunity with both hands, eager to be a part of what she saw as the best the US Army had to offer, the technological bleeding edge of modern warfare. After graduation she was assigned to the 331st Infantry, who were a part of the US’s invasion of mainland China. Arriving as a part of a batch of combat loss replacements, Luisa knew that it would be an uphill struggle to be accepted among her peers. However, she was used to such situations, and gladly took on the challenge. On the battlefield, she proved to be very much the capable soldier, her T-51b suit leading the charge against Chinese forces on many occasions. And while obviously the technological superiority of her Power Armour played a part in her victories, there was no denying that her success was as much due to her own determination and skills. Her squad took part in the capture of Shanghai, and were a part of the force that stormed the district capitol building. Official army photographers captured images of her T-51b suit outside the building, a tattered Chinese flag in its hands; that image would soon become the star of propaganda pictures and recruitment posters back home. Luisa herself was decorated for her efforts, being held up as an ‘inspiring example of what American youth should aspire to’. Unfortunately for Luisa, events would turn against her. An ambush by Chinese forces in early 2077 saw her badly injured, eventually losing her lower right leg. Invalidated, she was shipped home for recuperation while the Army decided what to do with her. For her part, Luisa claimed that she could still fight, and that her injury would not prevent her from using a Power Armour suit effectively. Instead, she was forced to sit and wait as the army considered her fate. The Great War erupted before she was returned to active duty; while like the rest of Appalachia she was not directly affected, the literal and figurative fallout from the Great War would shape the rest of her life. Determined to do what she could to keep her home region together, she joined the Responders, willing to take on whatever role she could. Fitted with a crude wooden leg, Luisa served as an EMT, helping to provide much-needed medical care. However, to her mind it was not enough, and she wanted to do more. That opportunity came from an unexpected source. When she learned of Elizabeth Taggarty’s ‘rebel’ Brotherhood of Steel group, Luisa was intrigued. To her, the Brotherhood offered her a chance to be a soldier again and, perhaps, to be more useful. Making contact with the Brotherhood, she eagerly was recruited by them. Despite her injury, the Brotherhood saw her as a valuable asset, and did their best to return her to active duty. Fitted with a more functional prosthetic, Merino was assigned to a Power Armour squad and given access to a salvaged T-51b suit. While she walked with a pronounced limp on foot, inside her suit, she found that it was like nothing had happened. At first she was assigned to training duties to help improve their new recruits while bringing herself up to speed with Luisa proving to be more capable than more able-bodied cadets. By mid-2078 she had been rotated to field duties, serving as a part of the Brotherhood’s efforts to restore order in the region. This bought her and her new squad into conflict with the raiders that were beginning to emerge from the mountains, as well as the mutated and ever-increasingly aggressive wildlife that was emerging after the war. This would eventually include Super Mutants, the products of insane experiments carried out on the people of Huntersville before the Great War. The destruction of Charlestown in the Christmas Flood of 2082 shook Luisa, who saw it as an act of wanton cruelty. With the provisional government’s collapse, she began to advocate the Brotherhood’s seizing power over the entire region, bringing Appalachia to heel by force if needed. However, this move had very little support among her fellows, who felt that the Brotherhood lacked the manpower to do such. As a compromise, however, she was open to greater cooperation with the Responders and, even if reluctantly, the Free States. For the next decade of her life, Luisa would be a part of the fight to maintain order in Appalachia as a Brotherhood Knight. Her team would see action across the region, but ever increasingly would be confined to the Cranberry Bog and Mire regions as time wore on and resources began to stretch thin. Keeping the Super Mutants of the Savage Divide contained would become one of their main focuses, with the savage giants proving to be a remarkably resilient and determined threat to the remaining humans. She also began to feel that the idea of letting the mutants and raiders wipe each other out had some merit, despite the fact that it would mean sacrificing human lives to do such. For all her training and experience, Luisa was not prepared for what would come next. The emergence of the Scorchbeasts from their underground lairs was completely unexpected, and caught the Brotherhood by surprise. Suffering severe losses at their hands, their forces attempted to regroup and contain the threat in order to prevent it from spreading. Luisa’s squad were a part of a force that attempted to head off the Scorched from entering the Mire, making a last stand at a fortified rally point. They died to a man, Luisa included, but their actions bought time to help spread news of what was happening and prepare a counter to this new threat. Personality Having had to work her way up from the bottom, Luisa was driven and determined in all things that she did. She constantly pushed herself and demanded nothing less then the best from herself in all things. This belif also applied to those around her; she felt that people should be the best they could be, and disliked those who relied on others to get ahead. Despite that, she was determined to aid others, especially those who could not help themselves for whatever reason, and saw herself as a protector of the people of Appalachia. Luisa had a lot of respect for the Responders and what they did. Having been one herself, she admired those who put themselves at risk out of a selfless desire to help others. She tried to push for better cooperation between the Brotherhood and the Responders, and felt that the two groups should try to combine forces or even merge into a single entity. Conversely, she saw the Free States as being dangerous lunatic fringers, and only tolerated them because they and the Brohterhood had loosely aligned goals. Finally, after the Christmas Flood, she saw the Raiders of the Savage Divide as being beyond redemption, and was accordingly merciless towards them. For the last decade of her life, Luisa had an affair with Jordan Fazzouk, a Brotherhood tank driver. The paid of them never managed to take their relationship to anywhere deeper or more involved, as both were too busy with their duties. Secretly, Luisa was glad for this, as she felt that it would be unfair to bring a child into the post-war world. Appearance Luisa was a tall, fit woman, built for strength and endurance rather than grace or good looks. She took this, like all things, in her stride, and was careful to look after herself and keep herself in good shape. Not traditionally attractive, she was considered more ‘handsome’ than anything else. Luisa had unremarkable features, with tanned skin, dark eyes and short-cut black hair that, by the end of her life, was showing signs of grey. She also had more than a few scars, and wore them with pride. Even after years with a prosthetic limb, Luisa allways walked with a limp that she never quite got rid of. As she got older, she began to become more stiff, the result of years of active service fighting all manner of threats. However, inside her Power Armour suit, she was as powerful and capable as ever, and was in many ways more mobile and agile than without. Equipment For most of her time in the Appalachian Brotherhood, Luisa wore a T-51b Power Armour suit. Bought to the Brotherhood by an army defector, it was kept in excellent condition despite the many battles it saw over the years. The suit survived her death, and remains where she fell in the southern Mire, as if awaiting her return. While she used a number of different weapons over the years, Luisa’s favourite was a 50 caliber heavy machine gun, which she nicknamed ‘War Pig One’. The weapon served her well over the years, and never failed her, right up until the end. Category:Characters Category:Brotherhood of Steel Category:Responders Category:Appalachia Category:Deceased